Town Square

Menlo School girls' tennis is hoping
to end its CCS frustration this season

Senior Giannina Ong is sporting a new hair color these days &#8212; red instead of her normal brown. Junior Paulina Golikova has added streaks of green to her blonde locks. And, the Menlo School girls' tennis team has added to its wardrobe new T-shirts enscribed: "I Bust Mine So I Can Kick Yours."

Posted by Angela
a resident of Evergreen Park
on Sep 13, 2012 at 8:54 am

Being a girl is conflicting. On one hand, we are taught
that we can be anything, do anything, but the moment we
try to achieve those goals we are quickly put back into place
by someone with antiquated views. I wonder if the boys team
had worn those shirts if this discussion would even be happening.
those girls do in fact bust theirs, so they can kick someone else's.
they work hard, study hard, so what if they are proud of that and
and want to show it off? In my opinion, we have far more important
things to worry about in schools.

Posted by Dorie Lyn
a resident of Menlo Park
on Sep 13, 2012 at 9:21 am

For too long girls had to sit by the sidelines while the boys played. They played hard and they competed hard and they got all the glory. NOT ANYMORE! The girls are now fierce competitors and start athletes and have earned the right to be loud and proud of their accomplishments. The shirt is a passive statement about that truth. I think banning this is sending an extremely negative message to our girls. Stop trying to control us and stop being so petty. Let them express who they are and make everyone proud by wining...AGAIN

I hear that the head of the school is banning the girls from wearing them at school and outside as well. Doesn't he have more important matters to take care of?

Girls need to not be afraid to speak their minds and assert themselves. The shirts are empowering! And yes the girls should wear them. If Menlo School wants to show the world that their school's culture supports girls as much as boys, then let the girls tennis team proudly wear them. Grow up Menlo, this is 2012.

Kudos to a team that is smart, hardworking and confident of their abilities.

As a total outsider here with no dog in the fight either way, this seems a strange thing to be upset about. In every organization I've been a part of, the "higher ups" have complete say over how the organization is represented, including everything from slogans to colors used on any sort of apparel, stationary, etc. My guess is that Menlo--their board, their administration, etc.--has some sort of policy that wasn't followed. And, if so, what are they supposed to do, just let the kids print whatever they want? None of us have any idea what actually happened, but that's my guess.

As far as asking the head master to be "shamed" and telling Menlo to "grow up" because it's 2012, my guess is that this poster is the kid who created the shirt, or her mom maybe? It's actually somewhat refreshing to see a school come forward and stand up for something, even if it's a small thing. Another poster suggested that they must have bigger things to worry about--again, I'm sure Menlo/the head master does, but also has to "worry" a bit about this, right? In the past 2 years, I've been to 2 Menlo sporting events (football and basketball) and I found the Menlo students to be quite well behaved and respectful. Shouldn't we err (if this even is an error of some sort) on the side of virtue versus on the other side? It's actually a bit refreshing to see a school like this actually stand for something like this versus just ignoring or actively supporting it.

I grew up around here knowing the school, and I can tell Observer that it wasn't the child or the parent who posted anything here, I've know them for a few years and their names aren't the above. They are a very kind and respectable family.
From what I know, the t-shirts weren't paid by the school, instead the parents pitched in to give the girls extra shirts as a memento for being on the team, from my knowledge every year they do that. So the school really shouldn't mind because they don't display profanity nor is it in the school policy.
I was at their game and the Saratoga girls loved the shirts, kudos to the captain, the Saratoga team didn't even have their uniform yet.

Posted by Rowena
a resident of Los Altos Hills
on Sep 17, 2012 at 12:45 pm

Looking back, apologies if I come off as abrasive, I've always supported the girl's tennis team due to personal ties with the school growing up there. The Saratoga team had their uniform but not all the girls had it yet but they praised the Menlo girl's shirts.

It doesn't matter who paid for the shirts, Rowena--the girls are representing something bigger than themselves and, therefore, have to abide by that particular institution's rules. They can't just go buy shirts and thereby ignore the Menlo School policy: that would be ludicrous.

You write that it isn't in the school policy. It's hard to know what you mean here. My guess--having no access to the school policy--is that it absolutely IS in school policy that any athletic outfits must first be approved by the administration, regardless of who pays for them, or if they find them somewhere for free, etc. That simply doesn't matter as I'm sure you must agree.

Again, kudos to the school for trying to run a respectable institution that stands for something (see my previous post for more on this).

I absolutely agree that the girls are representing something bigger than themselves Observer, I just find it interesting because Menlo has always been a very liberal school-- e.g. The lack of dress code. I agree that they ought to be approved but to my knowledge for the past few years, the "memento" shirts, which have come in different styles and sayings on it have not been approved yet never faced trouble with the admin.
Even still, I think the girls hold be allowed to at least keep the shirts as a memento even if they are not allowed to wear them at their games, it was after all their parents money, not the schools.
I respect your opinion on the topic, Observer, and find them interesting, I only wish to depart with a clarifying statement that the child who made them and their mother did not post anything in the above comments, it was simply your assumption that they would do such a thing that irked me as I have known them for several year and have great respect for them.

Observer, you're pretending to not know Menlo, you pretend not to take sides, but you accuse a child and her mom of something so blatant.

Quick question...why would you point a finger at a child or her mom? How would you even "know" that the child has a Mom AND not a Dad or both???? Unless, you're an insider. My take, you're just here to stir up.... You sound like you know too much to be just an "observer". Peace out!

It is 2012, the girls' shirt have no profanity or derogatory statements...let them keep the shirts!

Rowena, thank you for your thoughtful comments. I just wanted to be clear: I didn't mean to say that it sounded like a particular kid/parent as I don't know them, so you're right, it was not meant to be "aimed" at them.

I'm glad you found my comments helpful--that's the whole point of discussion, right? :)

As for "Patty" it's unfortunate that you took such an aggressive/attack position. All you did was attack me and not actually address the points that I'd made. Then again, that's typical of how many people "discuss" issues, so I understand it. You correctly state the year ("It's 2012") which we all knew already, and then just 'yelled' out "...let them keep the shirts!" No discussion at all. I'll let my actual points made above speak for themselves.

Thanks for that--at least I've helped to show one adult how to behave in a boarderline-civil manner. One at a time! :)

Yet, still, no actual real discussion going on. Bummer, but that's how some people are. It's no wonder we don't get anywhere in political/civic discourse. :( Imagine if this were actually an issue that mattered.

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